Now that they have a map (turns out Lavie more or less stole it which is pretty funny), Tiara’s group joins the others at the Summons. Upon arriving however, they learn that Mary has gone missing and all signs point towards her being trapped in a haunted mansion in the middle of the forest. Lapis Re:LiGHTs just keeps more and more random…and I still don’t mind that.
I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s better than Episode 5 but Episode 6 is more focused. You’re really just following Tiara, Champe, Emilia, and Alpha as they explore the haunted mansion. In addition to that, you’re formally introduced to the new character Garnet (Youko Nakayama), a ghost who resides in the mansion and joins Emilia’s group, IV KLORE. There’s less characters the script needs to juggle around and the characters that are at spotlight benefit from that. I thought Emilia and Alpah were fine in Episode 3 but they’re really funny this time around. While generally pretty mature, Emilia is very easily frightened by the paranormal and that contrasts splendidly with Alpha’s deadpan personality. You’d think Tiara and Champe would be just as scared but they handle things much better than Emilia. Tiara also sneaks in some more of her comedy gold by accidentally peaking through a wall, startling Emilia out cold in the process. That’s for beating Tiara’s team at magical dodge ball.
Considering that Lapis has introduced nineteen or so characters, hyping one in particular seems kind of dumb. Hell, Garnet isn’t even joining the main group. Still, she seems like a fun addition to the show. Amusing is that Garnet is a ghost who is completely oblivious to that fact. Maybe the show will address that in a more dramatic fashion (I’m like 20-80 on that) but it is funny watching her confused as to why her cold touch or walking through walls unnerves everyone. This also goes hand in hand with Emilia’s fear of the paranormal. Because Tiara knocked her out, Emilia finds out about Garnet’s ghostliness after she invites her to IV Klore and realizes too late what she’s done. It doesn’t help that Garnet likes being very close to her friends, sometimes too close for comfort, as demonstrated with her scenes with Mary and Emilia. I’m sure they’ll get along but the fact remains that Emilia is now stuck with a teammate who is also her worst fear.
While I like the emphasis on less characters, some of the sidelining that consequentially happens is pretty disappointing. You’d think after the trouble they went through, Tiara’s group would get to do something at the Summons but other than Tiara, that’s not really the case. Rosetta and Lynette help the girls searching the forest for Mary and you do get one great gag where Lavie and Ashley get lost for the whole episode but that’s really it. Meanwhile, you have poor Maryberry whose arc is horribly skimmed over after being barely being the primary arc last episode. Garnet lends an ear but that all happens off screen and is relayed to you via exposition. You’d think we’d at least get an Orchestra with Mary’s group as some sort of resolution but the ones performing this episode ends up being IV Klore. There’s a chance that Mary will get more proper development another time but there’s no denying that the treatment she got these past two episodes has been baffling.
For what it’s worth, the insert number by IV Klore is pretty enjoyable. The song has a jazzier composition to it and the choreography gets pretty creative with graphical effects the characters spellcast. A cute touch is that we first see them perform in front of Garnet and the other students as a trio during the Summons and the episode then cuts to an official performance where Garnet joins in. It’s seamless and it helps sell Garnet’s happiness to be in a group of friends.
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